Site ‘Acq’ Company Attributes High Zoning Success Rate to Local Relationships

A good site acquisition company can prevent a lot of headaches for carriers and tower companies that can arise during the zoning process. Cellective Solutions, a site acquisition firm based in Valley Park, MO, helps prevent these headaches through its well-developed relationships with local governments and municipalities. “You get such a reputation with them that they know coming in your proposal, whether it be a tower or rooftop, it’s going to be hard to deny because we have such a thorough presentation,” Russell Been, President & Cofounder of Cellective Solutions, said.

Been started working in the industry in 1999. When U.S. Cellular launched in the St. Louis market in 2004, Been helped found Cellective Solutions to complete 60 of the carrier’s most difficult sites. “They told us ‘if you can get these sites done, then they’re yours,’” he said. “That’s been our specialty ever since,” said Been, meaning the more difficult sites.

Since 2004, Been said the company has a nearly 100 percent zoning success rate, a figure he attributes to the local expertise and knowledge the company offers, specifically in the St. Louis market. It also boasts more than 100 years of cumulative experience in site acquisition.“It’s a big city but it still has a Midwestern feel to it and they would rather have someone they know walk in and be able to have an intelligent conversation,” Been said. The St. Louis market is divided into 200 different municipalities, Been said, which is a “challenge to be familiar with each of those jurisdictions and how they work,” but something the company has been able to do these past 12 years. In addition to the St. Louis market, Cellective Solutions is involved in several others across the Midwest, including Kansas, southern Illinois, Iowa and Oklahoma.